Not like that: Dragons hope Cooper can return to fray

Emotional St George Illawarra players have rallied around veteran centre Matt Cooper, whose career may be over after rupturing his pectoral muscle in the Dragons' upset 22-18 victory against South Sydney on Monday night.

Off-contract at the end of this year, Cooper, 34, is likely to have played his last game. Injury has cruelled him of a fond farewell, playing just eight matches this season after returning from a long-term toe injury on Monday night.

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''It is devastating,'' Nightingale said. ''He worked so hard to get back from injury. He didn't have surgery on his toe so he could continue throughout the year. We are all pretty shattered for him. I'm not sure what Coops is doing yet, but it would be a tragedy if [his career] finished like that.''

Cooper is the longest-serving current Dragon, having made his debut in 2000. He played in the 2010 premiership side and featured in seven Tests and 13 games for NSW.

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He was yet to make a decision on his playing future beyond this year. Cooper had intended to return to the field from his toe injury before evaluating his form.

The Dragons' high-performance manager Andrew Gray confirmed Cooper's worst fears after he walked from the field 51 minutes into the match.

“Scans have confirmed Matt has injured his pectoral muscle which was the result of a freakish landing when jumping for the ball,” Gray said. “He will require surgical repair of the muscle which carries a four-month rehabilitation.”

Teammate Nathan Fien, whose playing future beyond this year is also undecided, echoed Nightingale's sentiments.

''It's pretty devastating,'' Fien said. ''He has had a long road back from his footy injury. To have to go off in those circumstances is pretty disappointing. I don’t know what it holds for his future but it he wouldn’t have wanted it to end that way.“The boys grew in confidence knowing that he was going to be back there. He is a great all-round player, his defence is outstanding and he has scored a lot of tries. We will miss all that.”

Cooper’s possible replacement Charly Runciman will be side-lined for up to four weeks with a hamstring strain while the Dragons’ back-up halfback Harry Sieijka tore his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Illawarra Cutters on Saturday.

Meanwhile, St George Illawarra’s win against South Sydney all but guaranteed Parramatta consecutive wooden spoons, with the Dragons now three wins clear of the Eels. Nightingale said it was good to avoid the Dragons’ first wooden spoon since 1938.

“It’s the first box to tick,” Nightingale said.

“We still have a lot of games to go, I don’t think the spoon ever came into our heads but it’s good to be that far ahead of it. [The top eight] is a goal but you don’t look at it. We’re only one loss away from making things very difficult for us.”